Chelsea
striker Tammy Abraham has expressed his hope that “this can be my season”
following his wonderful hat-trick in the 5-2 win at Wolves.
Abraham’s treble on Saturday saw him surge to the top of the Premier League
scoring charts with seven goals, where he was subsequently joined by
Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero.
The 21-year-old, who had gone into the game having netted back-to-back
doubles in the previous two matches, is hoping his fruitful run of form can
help him cement his place in Chelsea's first team.
Abraham told Chelsea's official website: “I’ve been working hard and
hopefully this can be my season. It’s up to me to keep showing the gaffer
(Frank Lampard) in every game and training session that I’m hungry and I
want success.
“He told me at half-time to stay on and get the hat-trick so I believed and
stayed focused. I’ve just got to be ready to take every chance that comes my
way with both hands. I’m working hard and I’m just delighted to see that pay
off with my goals [on Saturday] as well as the three points.”
Abraham was among a trio of young Chelsea academy graduates for whom it was
a particularly good day – the others being defender Fikayo Tomori and Mason
Mount.
Terrific Tammy
Tammy Abraham (21y 347d) has become the youngest ever Chelsea player to
score a Premier League hat-trick, and is the youngest Englishman to do so in
the competition since Raheem Sterling (v Bournemouth) in October 2015
Abraham has become just the third player in Premier League history to score
2+ goals in three consecutive appearances aged 21 or younger, after
Cristiano Ronaldo in December 2006 and Dele Alli in January 2017.
Abraham is the first player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick
and an own goal in the same game
Each of Chelsea’s 11 Premier League goals this season have been scored by
English players aged 21 or under - Abraham (7), Mason Mount (3) and Fikayo
Tomori (1).
England U21 international Tomori opened the scoring in the 31st minute with
a superb strike from around 30 yards – his first Chelsea goal.
Abraham added: “I was thinking ‘don’t shoot, Fikayo’ but everyone is
delighted for him. In training, he’s been trying it every day and smashing
windows but [against Wolves] it paid off – it was a great strike.
“We (Abraham, Tomori and Mount) were the last people off the pitch because
we were discussing how we’ve all scored in the same game for Chelsea. We’ve
dreamt of that since we were little boys and we made it happen.”
Lampard hails Abraham hat-trick
Chelsea boss Lampard heaped praise on Abraham following the game, with the
striker continuing to repay his manager for his faith.
He told Sky Sports: "Tammy is [looking the part] and that's work, having
gone out on loan and scoring a lot of goals in the Championship, having a
year in the Premier League and now I think he feels the responsibility of
the Chelsea shirt as he should. The last three games speak for themselves.
"The only challenge for Tammy now is can he keep doing it? Can he get better
and better because the way he's playing, he's a huge threat for us up front
and there is competition within from [Olivier] Giroud and [Michy] Batshuayi
so he needs to keep it at that level and get even better."
Analysis: 'Chelsea are exciting to watch'
Speaking on Sunday Supplement, ESPN's Natalie Gedra said: "How many
complaints have we heard from Chelsea fans about giving younger players a
chance? Now you see the likes of Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount and they are
ready for it.
"Chelsea are already pulling off very exciting things this season. It's
entertaining to watch Chelsea. You see them making mistakes but correcting
those mistakes.
"It's a learning process for Chelsea and the young players, but you see
Abraham, he is a great finisher. He's good in the air, he's good with the
ball at his feet and he's got a lot of pace. Mason Mount came back from the
national team more confident and that reflects well on the club too. Chelsea
are exciting this season."
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